Some stories worth checking out:

• Compare teacher salaries in your district: Five of the top 10 highest paying districts are in high-cost Silicon Valley, starting with Mountain View-Los Altos Union School District, where teachers are paid an average of $95,365, nearly $30,000 above the average in the state of $66,965. Using state data, the Sacramento Bee has made it easy to compare districts across counties and the state.
• The Obama administration’s big plans for No Child Left Behind: Haters of the law may be pleased with some of the changes the president has in mind. He’d abolish the “utopian goal” of  requring that all children  everywhere be proficient in math and reading by 2014, and he’d replace Adequate Yearly Progress, the federal measure of districts’ progress, with a different, broader accountability tool (easier said than done, no doubt). And there would be pats on the back for high achievement, not just lashes for bad scores. New York Times reporter Sam Dillon offers a preview, based on conversations with those privy  to the plan. All of this assumes Congress will act on the proposal this year.
• CSU students squeezed out of classes: Saturday’s The Educated Guess discusses the California State University trustees’ goal of significantly increasing the graduation rate at their 23 campuses. Sacramento Bee reporter Laurel Rosenhall’s reporting on troubles that Sacramento State students are having getting into classes they need illustrates why that goal will be hard to reach. Last fall, CSU schools cut 7 percent of sections, on average. It looks like more of the same this spring. The story explores the impact on students at one campus.